The article in question was an interview with Doctor Jaba Tkemaladze, who is speaking about the harm of vegetable oils, especially palm tree oil. As an example, he mentions the food products of the company “Shiraki”, which contain palm tree oil. Food products containing palm tree oil, according to the respondent, are „products causing cancer“, “toxins“, “poisonous“, “poison”. The Council considered that whereas the article was focusing on the food products of the company “Shiraki” and they were referred to as the “poison”, the journalist was obliged to, at least for the purposes of the ethical principles, apply to the company “Shiraki” for obtaining counter arguments/ explanations. In addition, the Journalism Resource Center prepared a material regarding the article, including an interview with Megi Sajaia, the respondent journalist. The interview revealed that the journalist was aware of the claims against her material that she failed to check the information/did not reflect the position of the other party in the disputed material. Nevertheless, the journalist did not correct the article in question.

The Council found the violation of the First(accuracy) and Fifth (correction) principles of the Charter. The case hearing was attended by the applicant only, the respondent journalist neither attended the hearing nor provided a counterclaim.